SEV Biblia, Chapter 6:15
Mas si no soltareis a los hombres sus ofensas, tampoco vuestro Padre os soltar vuestras ofensas.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 6:15
Verse 15. But if ye forgive not] He who does not awake at the sound of so loud a voice, is not asleep but dead. A vindictive man excludes himself from all hope of eternal life, and himself seals his own damnation. Trespasses] paraptwmata, from para and piptw, to fall off. What a remarkable difference there is between this word and ofeilhmata, debts, in ver. 12! Men's sins against us are only their stumblings, or fallings off from the duties they owe us; but our's are debts to God's justice, which we can never discharge. It can be no great difficulty to forgive those, especially when we consider that in many respects we have failed as much, in certain duties which we owed to others, as they have done in those which they owed us. "But I have given him no provocation." Perhaps thou art angry, and art not a proper judge in the matter; but, however it may be, it is thy interest to forgive, if thou expectest forgiveness from God. On this important subject I will subjoin an extract from Mason's Self-knowledge, page 248, 1755.
"Athenodourus, the philosopher by reason of his old age, begged leave to retire from the court of Augustus, which the emperor granted. In his compliments of leave, he said, 'Remember, Caesar, whenever thou art angry, that thou say or do nothing before thou hast distinctly repeated to thyself the twenty-four letters of the alphabet.' On which Caesar caught him by the hand, and said, 'I have need of thy presence still:' and kept him a year longer. This was excellent advice from a heathen; but a Christian may prescribe to himself a wiser rule. When thou art angry, answer not till thou hast repeated the fifth petition of our Lord's prayer-Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors: and our Lord's comment upon it-For if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly father forgive your trespasses." PRAYER to God is considered among the Mohammedans in a very important point of view. It is declared by the Mosliman doctors to be the corner stone of RELIGION, and the pillar of FAITH. It is not, say they, a thing of mere form, but requires that the heart and understanding should accompany it, without which they pronounce it to be of no avail. They direct prayer to be performed five times in the twenty-four hours. 1.
Between day-break and sun-rise; 2. Immediately after noon; 3.
Immediately before sun-set; 4. In the evening before dark; and 5. Before the first watch of the night.
They hold the following points to be essentially requisite to the efficacy of prayer:-1. That the person be free from every species of defilement. 2.
That all sumptuous and gaudy apparel be laid aside. 3. That the attention accompany the act, and be not suffered to wander to any other object. 4.
That the prayer be performed with the face toward the temple of MECCA. HEDAYAH. Prel. Dis. pp. 53, 54.
There are few points here but the follower of Christ may seriously consider and profitably practice.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 15. But if you forgive not men their trespasses , etc.] On the other hand, where men are not of a forgiving temper to their fellow creatures and fellow Christians, how can they expect forgiveness at the hands of God? or what sense of pardoning grace can there be upon their minds? Had they any right apprehensions of the grace and goodness of God, in the forgiveness of their sins, this would influence their minds, and engage their hearts to forgive such who have offended them: wherefore, where this is wanting, it may be concluded of, and said to such persons, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses . It is a plain case, that your Father has not given you a true sense of the pardon of your sins, nor can you be certain that he will; nor have you any reason to expect it, when you are so cruel and revengeful to others. There is a considerable emphasis lies upon the word men, to which heavenly Father is opposed, and the sense, according to it, is, that if men, who are upon an equal foot with each other, should not forgive one another, how should it be expected that our Father which is in heaven, who is so much above, and no ways obliged to us, should forgive us?
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 9-15 - Christ saw it needful to show his disciples what must commonly be the matter and method of their prayer. Not that we are tied up to the us of this only, or of this always; yet, without doubt, it is very good to use it. It has much in a little; and it is used acceptably no furthe than it is used with understanding, and without being needlessl repeated. The petitions are six; the first three relate more expressl to God and his honour, the last three to our own concerns, bot temporal and spiritual. This prayer teaches us to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and that all other things shal be added. After the things of God's glory, kingdom, and will, we pra for the needful supports and comforts of this present life. Every wor here has a lesson in it. We ask for bread; that teaches us sobriety an temperance: and we ask only for bread; not for what we do not need. We ask for our bread; that teaches us honesty and industry: we do not as for the bread of others, nor the bread of deceit, Pr 20:17; nor the bread of idleness, Pr 31:27, but the bread honestly gotten. We ask for our daily bread; which teaches us constantly to depend upon Divin Providence. We beg of God to give it us; not sell it us, nor lend i us, but give it. The greatest of men must be beholden to the mercy of God for their daily bread. We pray, Give it to us. This teaches us compassion for the poor. Also that we ought to pray with our families We pray that God would give it us this day; which teaches us to rene the desires of our souls toward God, as the wants of our bodies ar renewed. As the day comes we must pray to our heavenly Father, an reckon we could as well go a day without food, as without prayer. We are taught to hate and dread sin while we hope for mercy, to distrus ourselves, to rely on the providence and grace of God to keep us from it, to be prepared to resist the tempter, and not to become tempters of others. Here is a promise, If you forgive, your heavenly Father wil also forgive. We must forgive, as we hope to be forgiven. Those wh desire to find mercy with God, must show mercy to their brethren Christ came into the world as the great Peace-maker, not only to reconcile us to God, but one to another.
Greek Textus Receptus
εαν 1437 COND δε 1161 CONJ μη 3361 PRT-N αφητε 863 5632 V-2AAS-2P τοις 3588 T-DPM ανθρωποις 444 N-DPM τα 3588 T-APN παραπτωματα 3900 N-APN αυτων 846 P-GPM ουδε 3761 ADV ο 3588 T-NSM πατηρ 3962 N-NSM υμων 5216 P-2GP αφησει 863 5692 V-FAI-3S τα 3588 T-APN παραπτωματα 3900 N-APN υμων 5216 P-2GP
